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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26366239">The start of all things that are left to do</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nina_Carter/pseuds/sweetlikehoney'>sweetlikehoney (Nina_Carter)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RuPaul's Drag Race RPF</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Kind of!, can you tell i'm in love with jan from this fic, concrit welcome and encouraged</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 06:42:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,668</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26366239</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nina_Carter/pseuds/sweetlikehoney</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jackie had been surprised when Janice approached her at the end of their creative writing class, all smiles and boundless energy. Janice was a pretty girl, and Jackie, at twenty-two, had yet to learn how to talk to pretty girls without stumbling over her words.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jackie Cox/Jan Sport</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The start of all things that are left to do</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Submitted for the Back to School Challenge by writethehousedown.<br/>Day 3: Pens<br/>You can also read it here: https://writethehousedown.tumblr.com/post/628733254343819264/the-start-of-all-things-that-are-left-to-do</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jackie was already nervous to begin with, so perhaps arriving thirty-six minutes early and drinking two large cappuccinos before Janice even met her at the café hadn’t been the smartest choice. Now she was nervous, trembling a little, and had thirty six minutes left to think about everything that could go wrong once Janice sat in front of her to work on their project. Jackie could choke on her words the second she saw her, or draw a blank on any story plots and be useless as a partner. Then Janice would think that she was a fraud, and maybe she <em> was </em>a fraud and her parents were right and she should have gone to law school like they wanted, oh God... That was, if Janice even got to the cafe. Maybe she’d decided she didn’t want Jackie as her partner, after all.</p><p>Jackie had been surprised when Janice approached her at the end of their creative writing class, all smiles and boundless energy. They hadn’t had a real conversation before that; just some small talk here and there, whenever Jackie felt brave enough to hold eye contact with the girl instead of avoiding all interaction by sitting as far away from her as possible. Janice was a pretty girl, and Jackie, at twenty-two, had yet to learn how to talk to pretty girls without stumbling over her words. And she <em> so </em>wanted to talk to this one. So, when Janice asked her if she wanted to work on the assigned short story together, Jackie forced herself to say yes, to Janice’s obvious delight. And now there she sat, trying to rein in a caffeine rush and starting and scratching out sentence after sentence.</p><p><em> “The air in the windowless room was cold and stale-” </em> No. Pointless.</p><p><em> “A girl walked alone at night-” </em> That’s the name of a movie.</p><p><em> “The rain came down on the-” </em> No, no, no.</p><p>Jackie dropped her pen on the table and buried her face in her hands. She looked at the wall clock. Twenty five minutes left. She puffed her cheeks and huffed while looking toward the counter. Screw it, she thought. Might as well make it three coffees.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>At four minutes past three p.m., Janice bounced into the café, in lilac dance shorts and a matching sports bra that showed through the open side of her white tank top. She waved at Jackie and went up to the counter. Jackie used that time to clear the table and straighten her clothes and her posture and her thoughts.</p><p>Janice came back holding a reusable cup with a straw in one hand and a paper bag of scones in the other. She sat next to Jackie and left the bag open on the table. An offering. Jackie took a scone and smiled at her.</p><p>“Thanks, Janice.”</p><p>“Oh, please, Janice was my father. I’m Jan.”</p><p>Jackie laughed a little at the dumb joke and Jan looked very pleased with that.</p><p>“Alright. Jan. What did you get yourself?” asked Jackie, trying to make some conversation before they got to work.</p><p>Jan shook her cup a little. “Watermelon frappuccino.”</p><p>Jackie’s disgust must have shown on her face, because Jan smiled until her eyes crinkled and said “Don’t judge me, it's good,” then bit her metal straw.</p><p>Jackie’s eyes flickered down to the girl’s mouth, but she blinked and quickly looked up. The mischief in Jan’s face told Jackie she hadn’t been quick enough.</p><p>“Do you wanna get started?” asked Jackie, scooting closer to the table and putting her hair up in a bun, just to give her hands something to do.</p><p>Jan nodded and rummaged through the backpack she’d left on the floor, taking out a lavender, leather bound journal and a handful of glitter pens tied together with a rubber band. Jackie looked at the colorful stationary and thought it matched the image of Jan that was slowly forming in her mind.</p><p>They both opened their journals side by side and dived in.</p><p>“So. Do you have a plot in mind?” asked Jan, while she wrote “Short story (w/ Jackie)” in bold letters at the top of the page.</p><p>“No, unfortunately,” said Jackie, and quickly added “I’ve been trying, though. I think I’m off my game today, sorry.”</p><p>Jan smiled at her and lightly bumped her hand. “Don’t worry, gorg, we’ll figure it out together. We have eight days.”</p><p>“No, for sure. I know.” Jan seemed satisfied with her response and turned back to her notes.</p><p>Jackie knew she could have left it at that. But the monologue that had been rattling around her head all day wanted to make its way out through her mouth, and before she could stop it, she was dropping all her inner turmoil on a girl that barely knew her name.</p><p>“It’s just, in those eight days I have to fit this six thousand word story and two big projects I haven’t even started. Plus I promised I would help my cousins with their college applications because my mother said I’d be neglecting my family if I didn’t. And I need our story to go well because it’s the first project of the year and if our professor doesn’t like me now, he won’t have me as his TA next year and I need <em> some </em> teaching experience just in case playwriting doesn’t pan out and I have to find a new source of income.”</p><p>The rant cut there, leaving Jackie out of breath and incredibly embarrassed. She chanced a side look at her partner to gauge her reaction and found the girl frowning, taken aback.</p><p>“Jacks…” Jan started, pity evident in her voice.</p><p><em> Oh, here we go</em>. Jackie knew better than to lose her composure in front of girls like this, who never understood. She was always ready to smile and nod at the tips on how to control her anxiety from people who didn’t have a clue. Jan opened her mouth and Jackie braced herself for whatever tired suggestion would come out. Probably yoga, if her outfit was any indication.</p><p>“Let’s make a work plan.”</p><p>
  <em> What? </em>
</p><p>If Jan noticed her shock, she didn’t acknowledge it. Instead, she barreled through like a woman on a mission, writing everything down as she went.</p><p>“Six thousand words in eight days, minus two days for editing and as a buffer, just in case. That’s less than eight hundred words daily. We can’t meet up everyday, but we can work on the same Google doc and try to align our schedules to have virtual meetings. We’ll take the next half hour to sketch out the whole plot and we can discuss character types as we go. What do you think?" she finished, finally looking up at Jackie.</p><p>Jackie stared back, unable to answer.</p><p>“Jacks?”</p><p>“Uh, yeah, yeah, that sounds reasonable. Perfect, really.”</p><p>Jan preened under the compliment and added more comments on the margins of her journal.</p><p>"You really have it together," said Jackie, still in a trance.</p><p>Jan looked sideways at her, clearly pleased with herself.</p><p>“My college grades average out to a nine so far. I don’t plan on changing that. Do you?”</p><p>“No, of course not. Let's start.” Jackie grabbed her own journal and searched the table for the pen she’d been using, coming up empty. She noticed Jan staring at her and turned to face her.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>Jan smiled a little and leaned in. “You, um…” she trailed off and reached her hand towards Jackie's face, pushing stray hair away from her cheek as she reached behind her head. Jackie couldn't move, couldn't look away from Jan’s eyes. She felt a tug in her hair and Jan pulled her hand back, holding Jackie's missing pen.</p><p>“You were looking for this?” she whispered.</p><p>Jackie moved to grab her pen and grazed Jan’s hand in the process.</p><p>“Thank you,” she whispered back. It felt important to keep her voice low. “You’re so pretty up close.” Or maybe she should’ve <em> not </em> talked.</p><p>Jan’s eyes widened, but her smile didn’t falter. “Am I?”</p><p>“And from afar. You’re just pretty.” Jackie straightened up in her chair and shrugged, feigning nonchalance.</p><p>Jan sat up and picked up her drink, swirling the straw in the almost empty cup.</p><p>“I think you’re gorgeous,” she shot back, glancing sideways at Jackie. “I’ve wanted to talk to you all month, but you always run out of class as soon as it’s over.”</p><p>“Oh, that,” said Jackie, chuckling a little. “Yeah, I’m always late to something. And, if I’m being honest, I was avoiding you.”</p><p>Jan dropped her smile for the first time that afternoon. Jackie noticed and rushed to correct herself.</p><p>“No, not like that! I just get nervous around you and I always say the wrong thing when I’m nervous. Just now is a good example.”</p><p>That seemed to appease Jan, but not enough for her to drop the subject. Instead, her eyes showed that same gleam from before, and Jackie realized she wouldn't leave this conversation unscathed.</p><p>“Why do I make you nervous, Jackie?” asked Jan, the image of innocence as she leaned back on her chair and sucked on the straw.</p><p>Jackie didn’t buy it for a second.</p><p>“You know why, <em>Janice</em>.”</p><p>Jan did a happy little wiggle on her seat and left the cup on the table. “I know, I just wanted to hear you say it.” Jackie just laughed. Her nerves had turned into giddiness and it wasn’t just the caffeine anymore. She felt light, she felt brave enough.</p><p>“Alright, I’ll say it: I like you. You’re cute and bright and I get stupidly happy when I see you in class.” But Jan knew that already.</p><p>“You’re adorable. Maybe once we turn in this story, and you finish your two projects and send your cousins to college, you can sweet talk me some more over dinner.”</p><p>“Well, who could say no to that?”</p><p>They both stared at each other, beaming, until Jan turned to the table with purpose and asked: “So, story now?”</p><p>“Story now.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Two days in a row! Wow!<br/>I appreciate any feedback. If you liked something, say it! If something felt off, tell me! I also accept comments that are all emojis.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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